T 2024 Legislative SESSION SUMMARY BY DAX DENTON & ROSS TEARE, INDIANA BANKERS ASSOCIATION The 2024 Indiana Legislative Session was highlighted by passing bills to improve reading skills, make childcare more accessible and enhance water infrastructure while deferring more contentious matters such as Medicaid, education, taxes and roads until next year. Lawmakers said before the session began that they planned to take a more measured approach this year, shelving some more controversial proposals, in part so they could condense the usual 11-week “short session” timeframe to just nine weeks. Lawmakers succeeded in that regard, adjourning sine die late Friday, March 8, one week earlier than scheduled after starting a week later. No legislative session is without its debates, though. Gov. Eric Holcomb, in his final session before leaving office because of term limits, vetoed a bill for the first time. House Bill (HB) 1002 was a House Republican priority bill regarding the definition of antisemitism. Gov. Holcomb cited issues with a compromise reached in the final hours of session, as it did not incorporate the entire International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition and its contemporary examples. By the Numbers ▶ 739 bills filed ▶ 443 House bills ▶ 296 Senate bills ▶ 172 bills passed ▶ 95 House bills ▶ 77 Senate bills ▶ 23% success rate, up from 22% last year Legislative Advocacy The banking industry saw another successful session, which the IBA generally measures by keeping problematic bills at bay while advocating for beneficial ones. Your Association strongly advocated for two crucial bills this session that aimed to address recent legal challenges faced by financial institutions. House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1284 was the IBA’s response to two Indiana Supreme Court cases, which aimed to clarify Indiana law regarding changes in the terms of consumer deposit contracts. This legislation affirms the long-standing practice that a consumer’s silence constitutes acceptance of updated terms for deposit accounts. For many years, financial institutions have relied upon the legally grounded practice of the so-called “silence is acceptance” approach to update the terms of their transactional accounts. However, a recent Supreme Court ruling in Land v. IU Credit Union challenged this practice. Similarly, Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 188 seeks to mitigate the impact of frivolous class action lawsuits on financial institutions. Responding to industry concerns, the bill establishes a twoyear statute of limitations for reviewing deposit account records. This reduction from the current six-year period would reduce the eligible penalties that financial institutions are subject to. This adjustment should work to rebalance the intent of future lawsuits. Offering Amendments During the legislative session, the IBA played an active role in molding bills to align with our members’ objectives. One example was HEA 1084, pertaining to the Privacy of Firearms Financial Transactions. The bill was filed in response to the creation of a Merchant Category Code for firearms retailers, which sparked concerns in the gun industry that it could lead to the tracking of firearm purchases. While Visa and Mastercard have halted the implementation of the code, certain states have taken measures to ban the code’s usage – with Indiana now being one of them. The IBA does not have concerns with lawmakers prohibiting the code. However, we expressed concern with the bill because of GR SUMMIT 20 HOOSIERBANKER
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